Having bed bugs in your home can be extremely stressful and frustrating. These pests have been on the rise not only in the US but all over the world.
Bed bugs are not drawn to dirt, and they can survive pretty much in any environment. If you’ve made a trip to Ashley Furniture, or had new store-bought furniture delivered to your home, you could easily have a bed bug infestation on your hands in the items were not properly inspected prior to purchase. Bed bugs can travel long distances in your newly bought Ashley Furniture items and make their way into your home if the store did not exercise due care in inspecting for and preventing an infestation.
Here’s what you should know about Ashley Furniture bed bugs, how to check your new furniture for bed bugs, and what to do if you had Ashley Furniture delivered with bed bugs.
Bed Bugs in Furniture Stores
Bringing bed bugs home after traveling is not the only way for an infestation to take place. Bed bugs can hitch a ride on your clothes, shoes, and bags if you visit an infested furniture store.
These pests can infest furniture in stores that don’t take the necessary precautions to prevent or deal with bed bug infestations. Bed bugs can then spread to every single piece of furniture in the store, hiding between cushions, in the seams of mattresses, bed frames, headboards, box springs, in drawer joints, and in all other tiny crevices where they can enjoy darkness and warmth.
If you sit on a piece of contaminated furniture in the showroom, bed bugs can crawl their way to your shoes, clothes, or handbag and be transported back to your home. However, this isn’t the only way bed bugs can be transported to your home. If you unknowingly purchase contaminated furniture, you could soon have a huge infestation in your home.
Many retail stores around the country don’t invest in proper bed bug treatments because they are expensive and very time-consuming. Some retail stores think that ensuring their stores are generally clean will drive the pests away. They don’t realize that even the cleanest of environments are not immune to bed bugs and that the problem will only get worse if not properly resolved. Proper detection and elimination of pests requires more than just a monthly cursory inspection and general pest treatment of a property. A trained bed bug professional inspecting a property and each item of furniture is the best way to ensure an infestation is not left undetected. Exercising due care also requires consistent inspection of furniture for pests prior to and up until it is sold.
To make sure you don’t suffer the consequences of someone else’s negligence, you need to know how to check for bed bugs.
Checking for an Ashley Furniture Bed Bug Infestation
The most important thing is not to take your new furniture inside your home until you’ve thoroughly inspected it. It doesn’t matter if you bought a single chair or a dresser. No matter the type of furniture or its material, bed bugs can make it their home. They won’t eat through wood or other material to find a place to hide, but rather make use of the seams and crevices that are already there.
Look in and around every single seam or opening, thoroughly checking for these tell-tale signs of a bed bug infestation:
- Bed bug waste – small black or dark-brown spots that resemble ink
- Small white barrel-shaped eggs or eggshells
- Small oval-shaped reddish-brown insects
You must check for these warning signs both before and after you buy any furniture from Ashley Furniture.
What to Do If You Find Bed Bugs in Your Ashley Furniture Store Items
If you detect bed bugs in your merchandise from Ashley Furniture, it’s vital to document all evidence, because you may be able to seek compensation for the store’s negligence. You can potentially file a claim against the store and receive compensation for pain and suffering, emotional distress, and property damage.
If you’ve brought the infested Ashley Furniture items into your home, you may be able to also get compensation for:
- Professional pest extermination
- Lost wages due to missed time from work to resolve the infestation or heal from potential bed bug injuries
- Medical expenses if you’ve suffered bed bug injuries
Therefore, take photographs of the infestation signs you’ve found, including any bed bug bites you may have suffered. Then contact a professional pest control service and make sure you keep the receipts and any invoices created. If you wish to file a claim against the negligent party, contact an experienced attorney first.
How Bed Bug Injury Law Can Help
Bed Bug Injury Law may be able to represent you on a pre-litigation basis, helping you determine whether you have a case. We can’t guarantee that you will receive any compensation, but we will do everything in our power to help.
After thoroughly assessing your situation regarding Ashley Furniture bed bugs and carefully examining all the evidence you have collected, we will let you know if you can take any legal steps against the store.
Contact us today for a free consultation!